Medical Marijuana News Channel

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Dr. Matthew Gibb, MD Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Carle Foundation Hospital Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, in Champaign, Ill. Talks about the many points of view about the clinical efficacy of cannabis as a therapeutic or medical treatment option and believes that the providers practicing in their areas of specialization have the best understanding of their patients. Seth Perlman AP Photo

Patients must have a doctor's signature to buy medical marijuana in Illinois, but some health systems are forbidding doctors from putting pen to paper because the drug is still illegal at the federal level.

Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC Pink:MJNA) is an agricultural hemp industry innovator that sources, evaluates, invests in and acquires value-adding companies with a focus on industrial hemp. The Company is pleased to announce that one of its investments – AXIM® Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTC:AXIM) – is conducting clinical trials of its patented pharmaceutical chewing gum MedChew™ RX in Europe. The cannabinoid controlled-release chewing gum is the first of its kind and is being developed for patients suffering from pain and/or spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).

AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on global research, development and production of pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, food and cosmetic products derived from industrial hemp, has announced commencement of clinical development of its leading patented pharmaceutical chewing gum, MedChew RX, for registration as a drug for relieving pain and/or spasticity in patients suffering from with multiple sclerosis (MS).

A new survey of 219 PatientsLikeMe members has found that patients with certain conditions who use medical marijuana believe it is the best available treatment for them, with fewer side effects than other options and few risks. The survey, conducted in June 2015, is among the first to gauge patient perceptions about the benefits and risks of medical marijuana and their level of willingness to recommend its use.

The current issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association includes two articles that review studies of marijuana's medical utility and come to similar conclusions about the applications that are best supported by the existing evidence: treatment of chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and spasticity. There is also substantial evidence that THC, marijuana's main active ingredient, is effective at relieving nausea and restoring appetite.

One-quarter of patients with multiple sclerosis report having used cannabis therapeutically and nearly one out of six (16 percent) currently use it to treat symptoms of the disease, according to survey data commissioned by the North American Research Committee on MS.

Lydia Foster, 15, moved to Colorado last Fall with her mom Debbie, to try and get help with her epileptic seizures using medical cannabis. The treatment had some success but they moved back to their home near Gettysburg after four months because their family was split apart. Image source: Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

There's a large group of Americans who spend every day struggling with a serious debilitating illness. It's a mostly powerless and unheard group, and I'm a member.

With 26 states plus the District of Columbia now allowing medical marijuana use, according to a recent North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) survey, many people with multiple sclerosis are considering the herb as a therapeutic option. NARCOMS is a research program that allows people with Multiple Sclerosis to expedite MS research by volunteering information about their experience with the disease.